Transforming Mechs in METTLE Core

I'm going to use the Macross mechs as an example of how to do transforming mecha in METTLE. Robotech (Palladium) was my second RPG, after D&D of course. It was the first one I actually bought myself after nearly evaporating in a kid nerd frenzy on seeing it in a hobby shop. I'm a big fan of Macross/Robotech but not a comprehensive student of its mecha stats, so your opinions may differ. I don't feel bad because the sources I am using all differ too, FWIW. The point is, this page will likely change a lot as my opinions evolve.

Veritech VF-1A

I'm going to start with the Basic VF-1A. Piloting this beige beauty is the anime version of wearing a red shirt in Star Trek. They just get blown out of the sky like popcorn. Still, I think they are neat. I'll be using Robotech's mode names for clarity (Battloid, Guardian, Fighter).

METTLE Stats 

I like to get right to the point, so here are the METTLE stats I ended up with.  Parenthetical values for speed and range are scaled down to mecha scale, if using that.

• Fighter: Handling +1, Speed 6-11(3-8), FRAME 17
  
• Guardian: Handling +1, Speed 7(4), FRAME 16, Poised.
  
• Battloid: Handling +1, Speed 5(2), FRAME 15, Poised.
  

Weapons:

• Gun pod: Attack Bonus 21, Burst 2, Ammo 30, 2H, Range 6(3).
  
• Head laser: Attack Bonus 19, no hands, Ammo - effectively unlimited, Range 6(3).
  
• Missiles (Med): Attack Bonus 22, Burst Special 1-12, Ammo 12, Range 6(3).

Modeling

You can see my reasoning, such as it were, below:

 

Handling 

The handling stat itself doesn't change much between the modes, but the modes do handle in different ways. Fighter handles as vehicles usually do, with current Speed being the Difficulty to hit them. Guardian and Battloid modes are more maneuverable and use their pilot's Focus+Handling as if it were a Poise score. This is covered by giving it a new trait called Poised.

You can argue that the Guardian mode is less effective at hand to hand, because it is so ungainly. I am on the fence about making it any worse mechanically, and hope the lower Frame is enough to reflect it.

Frame

To start modeling, I am going to pull stats from various places, none of which seem to agree on exactly how much this thing weighs or how tall it is in any mode. Yay. Height has little effect on conversions, but weight is important. Weight ranges from 13.3 metric tons (Obsidian portal) to 18.5 tons (Robotech RPG, Palladium 1st edition). Regardless, this falls closest to a FRAME of 14 on the Conversions table in METTLE Core page 87 (13,385 kg/30,500 lb or 15 tons/14 metric tons). Same as an F-14 tomcat - more than a schoolbus but less than a Sherman tank.

Now, this is where modeling by weight starts to falter - those of you who watched even the first episode of Robotech saw the perennial nincompoop main character just fly through a building in guardian mode with no meaningful damage. In Palladium this was accounted for using their "mega-damage" system, but we don't need to do that in METTLE.  This just means we will need to add a few points to Frame to account for whatever sci-fi technomagic made that nonsense possible. This is justified in Macross 2 as a sort of force field system (SWAG, hat tip to rivetgeek) that draws power from the engines, providing more protection for non-fighter modes! This is something they never touch on in the adaptation, and I had always just assumed a kind of alien alloy armor. Fascinating! The Frame of 14 would probably only apply when sitting on the flight deck powered off.

Three different Frame values is a little futzy, but it also gives a solid reason to convert to Battloid or Guardian when things get hairy. Even Fighter should get a little bump to show it is working in the background to some extent. This splits Frame to 15 for Fighter, 16 for Guardian, and 17 for Battloid. Wow! Even if you don't buy the energy conversion armor, the non-fighter modes are probably better able to take a hit by sheer flexibility and hiding structural weaknesses like the wings/fins and cockpit. This doesn't count as Armor, it just boosts Frame, meaning you don't have to track it. The drawback is that you have to stat them up as separate vehicles - but let's face it, we were always going to have to do that.

Speed

If we didn't have to stat the modes up as separate vehicles by weight, we would still have to do it for Speed. The veritechs are apparently powered by a fusion turbine engine in each leg, so no worries about operational range. Using similar sources and the METTLE Core conversion table on page 87:

• Fighter mode can reach about mach 4, for a whopping max Speed of 11. Fortunately you only have to Check this when doing maneuvers, and crashing at a high altitude mostly just means you drop an altitude - so higher is safer. On the other hand, stall speed is about 6 (240 kph?) so keep it within 6-11 in Fighter mode.
  
• Guardian speed tops out at around 500kph, for a max speed of 7. It can hover so there is no stall speed. It jumps to Speed 8 in Space.
  
• Battloid Speed: Sources differ a great deal here, but let's err on the high side. Running is described from 60 mph (~4) to 165 kph (~5) so let's be fun and say 4 on foot and 5 using the jets as skates. In space their skate Speed jumps to 6.
  

Speed and Range scales with Zone and mech size. If you are only playing at a mecha scale, just subtract 3 from all speed and range stats. This is shown in parentheses in the final stats above. This can make Zone based movement easier - also remember that you expand the size of the Zones themselves if not playing at a cramped human scale - this helps account for the unspoken logarithmic nature of these stats.

Weapons

systems can be modeled by scaling using the Battloid's Frame of 17 as a base and adding points as if it were a similar weapon wielded by a human, or "Micronian." The technical names of these differ in Macross and Robotech, so I'm just going to call them what they look like.The head lasers are good for sustained combat or suppression fire, the gun pod is good for massive burst damage, and the missiles are good for blowing things up.

• Gun pod: as a scaled triple barrel assault rifle, heavier and capable of automatic fire. Attack Bonus 21, Burst 2, Ammo 30, 2H, Range 6.
  
• Head laser: as a lighter rifle. Attack Bonus 19, no hands, Ammo - effectively unlimited, Range 6. 2 and 4 laser versions at higher ranks have AB 20 and 21, respectively. Also good as a cutting tool.
  
• Missiles: the default loadout is 12 medium missiles carried under the wings. The Special Missile Burst adds a Split die for every extra missile fired, split up to 12 ways as usual. There is no room for them in Battloid mode, so blast them all off before transforming - there is no prize for coming back with all your missiles! Attack Bonus 22, Burst Special, Ammo 12, Range 8.

Note that these Attack bonuses are quite high compared to human scaled characters, but this doesn't mean you are rolling a lot of dice in METTLE. This is before subtracting your target's Frame, so it feels just like combat at a human scale by the time the remaining dice are in your hand. If you are attacking a much weaker target, like Minmei or an easter basket full of puppies, you can just Raise (p.27) as many dice as you want to 6 to get them out of your pool, you monster.

Transformation

These happen very fast and do not seem to impede anything trained pilots are doing in the show. As long as they have the right Focus, just let the character start their turn in whatever mode they want. If they are unskilled at operating mecha, as Rick Hunter was in the first episode, it will eat their Action if they even know which slider to pull.

Missile Blocks

The classic Itano-circus swarm of missiles would be a death sentence if not for the fact that they are targetable. A Missile Block is a special Block Action that uses a firearm to set off the missiles, often destroying the entire grouping. This is handled as a Block but the damage is doubled. Like a standard Melee Block, this can even result in extra damage hitting the attacker, either from the Blocking attack or stray explosions.